After a stint in the corporate sector, Nikhilesh returned to his roots in Udaipur to explore his business acumen. Nikhilesh emphasizes the importance of taking risks, learning from failures, and maintaining a passion-driven mindset in the entrepreneurial world.

Nikhilesh Tayal is the founder of Vidsaga, a dynamic global marketplace that connects startups with talented filmmakers, fostering the creation of compelling videos and visual content.

Nikhilesh says that he always had an entrepreneurial mindset. He was born and brought up in Udaipur. He was working in the corporate sector in Bengaluru, and one fine day he left his job and moved back to Udaipur to realize his entrepreneurial spirit. Nikhilesh first started a mobile-based recruitment company named ‘CV Bhejo’ that worked for recruitment in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. He was able to raise funding but could not scale up his business much and monetise it, and eventually he had to shut things down.

After facing failure in his first start-up, Nikhilesh did not lose hope; he kept his entrepreneurial spirit alive. At that time, he was brainstorming as to what he could do now. He realized that he used to do theater when he was in school. So he started teaching theater to children and those interested in it. In 2014, when the YouTube trend was on the rise and various production houses were coming up and uploading content on YouTube, he too thought of making a short movie. It was a twenty-minute short movie made almost on a zero budget. Though the movie did not get a good response, during this process, he realized that filmmaking is very much an entrepreneurial thing. You have to ideate, form a team, pitch the idea to other people, and market it.

When Nikhilesh realized that there are so many filmmakers who are struggling to make films, he started his own blog. He would interview upcoming filmmakers. He interviewed around 200 filmmakers. During this time, his friends who were in other startups felt the need for video makers. So sensing the opportunity, he tried to bridge the gap between demand and supply, as he had a network of 200 filmmakers who were looking for opportunities.

Nikhilesh says that when he realized he was generating leads from Mumbai, Delhi, etc. while working from Udaipur, he thought, Why can’t he generate leads from overseas? That's when he started Vidsaga, a global marketplace for start-ups to create videos.

Talking about his childhood, Nikhilesh says that he was an introverted kid growing up. He would play badminton and do theater. He was average at academics. After high school, when it came to what to do next, he doubted his own abilities and thought of pursuing engineering at a private college. But he did not want to regret it later in life, so he went to Kota to prepare for the IIT entrance exam and give it a shot. Initially, the experience was intimidating for him, as some of his counterparts were already great at studying. But after a few months, he picked up his studies and eventually managed to crack the exam and get a berth in IIT. This whole journey taught him a lesson: no matter what, at least one should try. Rejections are smaller than regrets. You should not have regrets in life; this is the lesson he still follows.

Nikhilesh shares that building a startup is not easy. One has to face a lot of hard times. But in a start-up, you never fail; you either succeed or learn something. It’s been ten years since he started his entrepreneurial journey. His first start-up failed, but the second one is doing really well. He now has clients from across the globe.

Talking about COVID, Nikhilesh says that it was a tough time for us all. It had both negative and positive aspects. It made us realize the importance of good health. Negatively, it disrupted all the businesses. But he stresses finding opportunity in times of adversity.

Nikhilesh did not possess leadership skills from the beginning; he has learned them with time. According to Nikhilesh, it’s not the education but the experience that matters. One should have a willingness to learn, which comes from passion and love for something.

Nikhilesh does not have any role models as such. But he learns from everyone, be it his employees, parents, or any person that can impart some learning to him.

Nikhilesh believes that we are the product of our own decisions. Our decisions can be right or wrong. If he could go back in time, he would want to make the same decisions. He would also want to relive his college days freely, as things like classes, grades, etc. that he stressed about eventually did not matter much.

Nikhilesh believes that it doesn’t matter whether you have skills or not if you want to start something. It’s your passion and mindset that will sail you through. Besides, business is not an extension of your job. Job and business are two separate things, says Nikhilesh.